Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has undertaken analysis of financial losses to UK consumers arising from engagement with illegal streaming services; and whether he is taking steps to mitigate those losses.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK Government recognises the challenges that illegal streaming services creates for intellectual property (IP) owners, creators, businesses and consumers. We work closely with law enforcement partners, rights holders, consumers, and industry to understand where and how this is taking place.
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has conducted research into the scale of digital piracy, and IP infringement more broadly across multiple sectors. For example, two IPO consumer surveys published in 2025 demonstrated that digital piracy continues to be a challenge in the UK. In 2024, 29% of UK residents aged 12+ (around 17.2 million) had recently accessed online content that infringed IP rights. This activity can have a negative impact on businesses. These impacts include, but are not limited to, lost sales and the costs related to monitoring and enforcement.
This information is used, along with other data we collect on online infringement (e.g., use of counterfeit goods) to help design measures that can affect consumer behaviour and provide cost-effective, targeted enforcement procedures.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2026 to Question 111863, what activities the Intellectual Property Office undertakes in relation to net zero, sustainability or green innovation objectives.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Our sustainability initiatives are focused on meeting our obligations under the Greening Government Commitments, which aim to reduce the environmental impact of our estate and operations. We also ensure that we continue to meet the requirements of ISO 14001, which we hold for our environmental management system.
While we review the future accommodation requirements of our headquarters, we are not planning any significant investment in the estate. Current activity is therefore limited to essential maintenance and smaller improvements to maintain efficiency. Recent initiatives include the installation of new energy efficient boilers in our warehouse facility; a reduction in the number of fleet vans and the journeys that they undertake; and replacement of air conditioning units with more efficient units. We’re also reviewing our waste processes to reduce overall waste and improve the amount we recycle.
Further detail on our sustainability activity for the previous financial year is set out in the sustainability chapter of our Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much Innovate UK funding has been awarded to organisations based in Lincolnshire in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Innovate UK’s grant funding database shows that during the most recent three full financial years, Innovate UK offered £26.8 million in grant awards to organisations registered in Lincolnshire. This is broken down by financial year as follows:
Financial year | Committed funding |
2022/23 | £11,783,553 |
2023/24 | £8,618,065 |
2024/25 | £6,444,029 |
Total | £26,845,647 |
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of technical, contractual and financial switching barriers in the cloud services market on effective competition for UK businesses and public sector bodies.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to supporting a competitive and innovative digital economy. In July 2025, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that certain technical and commercial practices in the cloud market hinder switching and limit effective competition. The CMA recommended its Board prioritise a future Strategic Market Status investigation into cloud competition.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to improve accessibility and reduce financial barriers to training and career progression within the freelance screen workforce.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Creative Industries Sector Plan sets out our approach to developing a high-quality and targeted skills and training offer, meeting the workforce requirements of the creative industries. This includes responding to the rapid changes in the screen sector to build a resilient skills base that can adapt and thrive as new opportunities emerge, and to retain knowledge within the domestic freelance workforce. We are supporting industry to develop skills passports, which will support the documenting and transfer of industry-recognised skills and competencies.
The Government’s £10 million investment in the National Film and Television School (NFTS) will deliver 2,000 new trainee and apprenticeship opportunities and has unlocked £11 million in private investment from partners including Disney, the Broccoli Foundation, and Sky. The investment is focused on increasing access for disabled students and providing structured career paths. This adds to the Government's investment in infrastructure to support virtual production and adoption of emerging technology as part of the government’s £75.6 million investment in the CoSTAR programme and its expansion through DCMS's £25 million Createch Futures.
As part of the BFI National Lottery Funding Plan 2026-2029, £35.55 million will also be provided for Skills and Workforce Development. This includes a refreshed BFI Film Academy with additional Government funding, continuation of the BFI National Lottery Skills Clusters Fund and the WorkWise for Screen pilot.
More broadly, this Government is transforming the apprenticeships offer into a new growth and skills offer, which will offer greater flexibility to employers and learners. As of August 2025, shorter apprenticeships are now possible for screen and audio production assistant apprentices, and from April 2026, we will introduce short course ‘apprenticeship units’ in areas such as digital and AI. Additionally, Skills Bootcamps continue to offer free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks in areas including Film Production and Screen Crafts, giving people the chance to build sector-specific skills with an offer of a job interview on completion.
In November, Skills England also introduced the UK Standard Skills Classification, the first standardised skills framework of its kind in our country, to help everyone from individual job seekers to major employers to navigate the world of skills with confidence.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment has her Department made of the effect of illegal streaming on a) the financial sustainability of UK broadcasters and b) their ability to invest in domestic content production.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises that the illegal streaming of content negatively impacts the revenues of UK broadcasters, which is why we have committed in our Creative Industries Sector Plan to ensure UK intellectual property rights are the best protected in the world.
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in conjunction with Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), recently announced that its funding for the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit Unit (PIPCU), hosted by the City of London Police, will continue until 2029, and strengthen their ongoing partnership in UK intellectual property enforcement. This partnership actively targets websites and platforms providing illegal access to copyrighted material, such as the illegal streaming of television content.
We want to ensure the future sustainability of the broadcasting sector so that they can continue to commission and produce high quality content in the UK. That’s why we have committed to taking action to support the sector through our implementation of the Media Act 2024. We are also considering the findings in Ofcom’s Public Service Media (PSM) Review, which includes a number of recommendations looking to support the future sustainability of public service media.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much UK Research and Innovation funding has been awarded to organisations based in West Yorkshire in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
During the financial years 2021/22 to 2023/24, UK Research and Innovation invested £723 million in grant awards to organisations in West Yorkshire. This is broken down by financial year as follows:
Financial Year | UKRI Investment |
2021/22 | £227m |
2022/23 | £260m |
2023/24 | £236m |
Total | £723m |
Asked by: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that online platforms based overseas comply with Ofcom penalties issued under the Online Safety Act 2023.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ofcom's enforcement powers allow it to take enforcement action against a service, including directions to return to compliance, issuing fines or, where appropriate, applying to the courts for business disruption measures, regardless of where it is based. Ofcom publishes details of its enforcement action on its website.
Government continues to monitor the effectiveness of Ofcom’s enforcement of the Online Safety Act 2023 and welcomes recent enforcement action related to non-compliance with duties on highly effective age assurance for sights hosting pornographic content and adult services.
Where services do not comply with duties, or fail to respond to penalties, Ofcom can introduce a daily fine, escalate to business disruption measures (‘blocking’ a service’s access to UK users) or apply to the courts to convert a civil fine to a court-ordered financial penalty.
Asked by: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Ofcom’s enforcement powers relating to fines issues to adult websites.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ofcom's enforcement powers allow it to take enforcement action against a service, including directions to return to compliance, issuing fines or, where appropriate, applying to the courts for business disruption measures, regardless of where it is based. Ofcom publishes details of its enforcement action on its website.
Government continues to monitor the effectiveness of Ofcom’s enforcement of the Online Safety Act 2023 and welcomes recent enforcement action related to non-compliance with duties on highly effective age assurance for sights hosting pornographic content and adult services.
Where services do not comply with duties, or fail to respond to penalties, Ofcom can introduce a daily fine, escalate to business disruption measures (‘blocking’ a service’s access to UK users) or apply to the courts to convert a civil fine to a court-ordered financial penalty.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much funding has been allocated to research and development projects led by organisations based in Bradford in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
During the financial years 2022/23 to 2024/25, UK Research and Innovation made £9.6 million in grant awards to organisations in Bradford. This is broken down by financial year as follows:
Financial Year | Committed funding |
2022/23 | £4,492,542 |
2023/24 | £1,309,239 |
2024/25 | £3,826,899 |
Total | £9,628,680 |
Not all UKRI funding investments are captured in the figures provided due to data unavailability.